DOCSLIB.ORG

Unpacking the Unspoken: Silence in Collective Memory and Forgetting

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Unpacking the Unspoken: Silence in Collective Memory and Forgetting Unpacking the Unspoken: Silence in Collective Memory and Forgetting Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Chana Teeger, Harvard University Collective memory quite naturally brings to mind notions of mnemonic speech and representation. In this article, however, we propose that collective silences he thought of as a rich and promising arena through which to understand how groups deal with their collective pasts. In so doing, we explore two types of silence: overt silence and covert silence, and suggest that each may be used to enhance either memory or forget- ting. We illustrate our conceptual scheme using data on the commemoration of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rahin. The concept of collective silence quite naturally brings to mind notions of forget- ting and amnesia. Collective memory is generally understood to entail the nar- ration and representation of the past, while collective forgetting is antithetically thought to be a silencing and muting of the past. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that when nations, collectives or individuals wish to ensure that certain events, eras, people and experiences are remembered, they quite naturally turn to words and images. What can be heard, seen and touched has become the cornerstone of memory. As a result, absence and silence have often resulted in protest by groups who have shared the assumption that recollection is impossible without talk and representation (see for example Zolberg 1998; Scott 1996; Young 1993; Wagner-Pacifici and Schwartz 1991). While no one can guarantee the mnemonic maintenance and survival of issues that have received textual and narrative repre- sentation because memory is unstable, changing and unpredictable (Zelizer 1995), commemoration seems to amount-at least in its beginning stages-to words, narratives and much talk. In other words, speech, narrative and text seem to be perceived as necessary-if not sufficient-for ensuring collective memory. Scholars of collective memory have focused much attention on such representa- tions of the past and have paid attention to both the form and content of these representations. In terms of form, they have examined formal and informal rituals, historical museums, central and peripheral monuments, history books, school curricula and much more. In terms of content, scholars have paid attention to the words, texts and narratives that have filled the above-mentioned forms. In addition, scholars of collective memory have quite natutally taken note of what is missing and not talked about in representations of the past. In this way, they We gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Simone Ispa-Landa, Graziella Silva, the Social Forces Editor and anonymous reviewers. Direct correspondence to Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, Depart- ment of Sociology and Anthropology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel. E-mail: [email protected] » The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces 8813) 11 D3-n 22. March 2010 1104 • Sociai Forces mi) have drawn attention to distortions in what had hitherto been perceived as the truth about the past (e.g., Ben-Yehuda 1995) as well as to processes through which people and events were excluded and forgotten from collective memory (e.g., Armstrong and Crage 2006; Stora 2006; Piterberg 2006; Choi 2001; Yoneyama 1999; Prost, 1999; Aguilar 1999; Sturken 1991; Ehrenhaus 1989). Thus, along- side analyses of mnemonic narratives, speech and representations, we have seen a growing scholarly interest in silences, omissions and exclusions. Although it is dif- ficult to study those things about which individuals keep silent (Zerubavel 2006), scholars of collective memory have been able to examine official representations ofthe past in the aim of noting those topics that were left out and silenced. These silences have become the first indication that specific topics have stood a chance of being permanently sidelined, forgotten or denied altogether. While acknowledging that silence is often tightly coupled with forgetting and talk with memory, we wish to expand on the ways in which silence can also be used to facilitate recollection, while talk can be used to enhance amnesia. In other words, we suggest that silence be understood as a complex and rich social space that can operate as a vehicle of either memory or of forgetting and thus can be used by various groups for different ends. We do this by extending the notion of silence in two ways. First, we argue that silence need not only be thought of as the antithesis of speech. As such, we suggest that silence be disaggregated into its overt and covert manifestations. By overt silences, we refer to a literal absence of speech and narrative. Covert silences, on the other hand, are silences that are covered and veiled by much mnemonic talk and representation. Such silences are not about the complete absence of talk, ritual or practice. Rather, they are about the absence of content. Because these absences are not immediately apparent as such, covert silences are often quite difficult to identify and critique. Second, we suggest that both overt and covert silences can be utilized in the aim of either memory or forgetting. In other words, we offer a typology of silences distinguished on the one axis into overt and covert silences and on the other axis into silences aimed at memory and silences aimed at forgetting. Our analysis ofthe various forms and functions of silence is undoubtedly locat- ed within a contemporary mnemonic landscape where groups, sectors and entire nations are expected to recognize and confront their post-heroic pasts (Schwartz and Schuman 2005) and to examine their shameful histories and embarrassing moments (Olick 2007). For reasons that are beyond the scope of this article, cel- ebrating a mythic and heroic past and ignoring "difficult pasts" (Wagner-Pacifici and Schwartz 1991; Vinitzky-Seroussi 2002) seem to have become less and less legitimate in the contemporary mnemonic landscape. As such, keeping completely silent about certain issues is increasingly becoming a non-option for many nations (or, at the very least, an option with a high political price tag attached). This trend has not, however, meant that commemorative activities around these pasts are wholeheartedly embraced. Today, as in the past, certain constituencies do not wish Silence in Collective Memory and Forgetting • 1105 to remember and acknowledge certain pasts, especially if such memories bring up issues of accountability and guilt. However, unlike in the past, these groups often cannot withdraw into a complete and collective silence. How then do groups and/ or nations that wish to forget the past, or at the very least not to talk about it, do so in an era where this is less and less acceptable (and, in some cases, where they are legislatively forced to "remember")? Furthermore, how do groups that do wish to remember the past do so while minimizing conflict with other groups that do not wish to recollect its shameful aspects? Using the case of the commemoration of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in Israel, we address these questions by showing how different actors in the mne- monic scene differentially engage in talk and/or silence in the aim of advancing remembering and/or forgetting. Yitzhak Rabin's Assassination: Background and Data Yitzhak Rabin was a much-admired military officer who commanded a brigade that fought in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. He was the Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff during the 1967 War, at the conclusion of which the east- ern part of Jerusalem and the West Bank were captured from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria and the Sinai Desert and Gaza Strip from Egypt (collectively referred to as the occupied territories). In September 1993, during Rabin's sec- ond term as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, the peace process with the Palestinians was officially initiated with the signing of the "Oslo Accords" by Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The term "peace process" refers to the political attempt at concluding the bitter and bloody 100-year-old conflict between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. That Rabin was engaged in a peace process was evident to his political supporters, but it was not evident to all ofhis opponents, who perceived any withdrawal from the occupied territories (by now populated with Jewish settlements) as a nightmarish peace-a disaster on both strategic and religious grounds. Thus soon after the famous handshake between Rabin and Arafat at the White House in September 1993, Rabin became the primary target of a vilification campaign organized by elements of the Israeli right who labeled him as a traitor (Ben-Yehuda 1997). The main accusation against Rabin had to do with his willingness to withdraw from territory that had been occupied by Israel since 1967.' The Israeli right, and especially the Jewish settlers in the occupied territories, who felt that the Israeli government had deserted them, organized many harsh demonstrations, which were often led and addressed by prominent right-wing political figures and religious rabbinical authorities. In an attempt to respond to the campaign against Rabin, his government and the peace process, the Israeli left organized a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Nov. 4, 1995. As Rabin was leaving the rally he was shot three times. Several hours later, Rabin's personal assistant announced that the Prime Minister was dead. Soon enough, the assassination would come to symbolize a chasm deep in the 1106 • Social Forces m'i) heart of the nation. The assassination tore open the right-left, religious-secular divides within Israeli society. While all (save several conspiracy theorists) agreed that Yigal Amir, an Orthodox Jewish Law student, had pulled the trigger, there was little agreement over what both the assassin and the assassination symbolized at a deeper level. For the religious right, Yigal Amir became something of "a bad apple," a fringe lunatic who acted irrationally.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • *For All Comprehensive Exam Sections, DO NOT Attempt Answering a Question Unless You Really Know the Answer
    *For all comprehensive exam sections, DO NOT attempt answering a question unless you really know the answer. You will be much less likely to pass if you provide information that does not actually address a question (even if the information you provide is technically accurate, and could be used to answer another question). Also, most questions (except Statistics) will require you to cite original sources to support your arguments, but please do not cite a textbook. Cognition and Learning Section This exam is tied most directly to PSY 620 and 621. You are not allowed to attempt this exam until you have passed both of these courses. You will see questions covering such topics as (in no particular order of importance): perception, attention, working memory, episodic versus semantic versus procedural long- term memory, implicit versus explicit memory, automatic versus controlled processing, categorization, social cognition, metacognition, theories of learning and behavior, eyewitness memory, language, decision-making and problem-solving, expertise, and developmental/age issues concerning memory. By far the most important thing to study is an undergraduate textbook in cognitive psychology (e.g., Goldstein; Reisberg; Robinson-Riegler; Sternberg), as well as notes and materials from PSY 620. Below is an example question (no longer used) with a good student response. It will give you an idea of the level of detail needed for a good response, and how to cite original sources to support your statements. You are an eyewitness to a crime in which a man robs a liquor store. He does so in under 5 minutes while pointing a gun at the clerk, is not wearing a mask or anything else to hide his face, and he quickly runs away after the robbery.
    [Show full text]
  • Collective Memory from a Psychological Perspective
    Review Collective Memory from a Psychological Perspective 1, 2 3 William Hirst, * Jeremy K. Yamashiro, and Alin Coman Social scientists have studied collective memory for almost a century, but psy- Highlights chological analyses have only recently emerged. Although no singular approach Collective memories can involve small communities, such as couples, to the psychological study of collective memory exists, research has largely: (i) families, or neighborhood associa- exploredthe social representations of history, including generational differences; tions, or large communities, such as nations, the world-wide congregation (ii) probed for the underlying cognitive processes leading to the formation of of Catholics, or terrorist groups such collective memories, adopting either a top-down or bottom-up approach; and (iii) as ISIS. They bear on the collective explored how people live in history and transmit personal memories of historical identity of the community. importance acrossgenerations.Here,wediscussthesedifferent approaches and Many studies focus on either the repre- highlight commonalities and connections between them. sentation of extant collective memories or the formation and retention of either extant or new collective memories. Memories Held Across a Community Members of a community often share similar memories: Germans know that their country Those interested in the formation of participated in the mass murder of Jews; Catholics, that Jesus fasted for 40 days; and a family, collective memories can approach ’ that grandfather immigrated from Ireland. Such collective memories can shape a community s the topic in a top-down or bottom- up fashion. ’ identity and its actions. Germany s struggles to come to terms with its troublesome past, for fi instance, de ne to a great extent how Germans see themselves today as Germans [1].
    [Show full text]
  • How Big Is Human Memory, Or on Being Just Useful Enough
    Downloaded from learnmem.cshlp.org on September 29, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press REVIEW Yadin Dudai How Big Is Human Memory, Department of Neur0bi010gy or On Being Just Useful Enough The Weizmann Institute of Science Reh0v0t 76100 Israel We are, in many respects, what we remember. But how much do we do? So far, science has provided only a very partial answer to this riddle. The magical number seven, plus or minus two, seems to constrain the capacity of our immediate memory (Miller 1956). But surely its constraints dissipate when memories settle in long-term stores. Yet how big are these stores? If we combine all of our factual knowledge and personal reminiscence, childhood scenes and memories of the past day, intimate experiences and professional expertisemhow many items are there, that, combined together, mold us into unique individuals? The answer is not simple, and neither is the question. For example, what is an item in long-term memory? And how can we measure it, being sure that we unveil memory capacity and not merely the occasional ability to tap it? Such theoretical and practical difficulties, no doubt, have contributed to the fact that the capacity of human memory is still an enigma. Yet, despite the inherent and undeniable complexities, the issue deserves to be retrieved, once in a while, from the oblivions of the collective memory of the scientific community. (For a selection of earlier discussions of the size of human long-term memory, see Galton 1879; Landauer 1986; Crovitz et al. 1991.) Folk Psychology and When confronted with the issue, many tend to provide an intuitive Early Views estimate of the size of their memory, based either on belief or introspection or both.
    [Show full text]
  • Collective Memory from a Psychological Perspective
    Int J Polit Cult Soc (2009) 22:125–141 DOI 10.1007/s10767-009-9057-9 Collective Memory from a Psychological Perspective Alin Coman & Adam D. Brown & Jonathan Koppel & William Hirst Published online: 26 May 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract The study of collective memory has burgeoned in the last 20 years, so much so that one can even detect a growing resistance to what some view as the imperialistic march of memory studies across the social sciences (e.g., Berliner 2005;Fabian1999). Yet despite its clear advance, one area that has remained on the sidelines is psychology. On the one hand, this disinterest is surprising, since memory is of central concern to psychologists. On the other hand, the relative absence of the study of collective memory within the discipline of psychology seems to suit both psychology and other disciplines of the social sciences, for reasons that will be made clear. This paper explores how psychology might step from the sidelines and contribute meaningfully to discussions of collective memory. It reviews aspects of the small literature on the psychology of collective memoryandconnectsthisworktothelargerscholarly community’sinterestincollectivememory. Keywords Social contagion . Memory restructuring . Collective memory . Collective forgetting General Comments Contextualizing the Study of Collective Memory Why not has psychology figured prominently in discussions of collective memory? For those in social science fields other than psychology, the methodological individualism of The first three authors contributed equally to this paper. The order in which they are listed reflects the throw of a die. A. Coman : J. Koppel : W. Hirst (*) The New School for Social Research, New York, NY 10011, USA e-mail: [email protected] A.
    [Show full text]
  • Memory in Mind and Culture
    This page intentionally left blank Memory in Mind and Culture This text introduces students, scholars, and interested educated readers to the issues of human memory broadly considered, encompassing individual mem- ory, collective remembering by societies, and the construction of history. The book is organized around several major questions: How do memories construct our past? How do we build shared collective memories? How does memory shape history? This volume presents a special perspective, emphasizing the role of memory processes in the construction of self-identity, of shared cultural norms and concepts, and of historical awareness. Although the results are fairly new and the techniques suitably modern, the vision itself is of course related to the work of such precursors as Frederic Bartlett and Aleksandr Luria, who in very different ways represent the starting point of a serious psychology of human culture. Pascal Boyer is Henry Luce Professor of Individual and Collective Memory, departments of psychology and anthropology, at Washington University in St. Louis. He studied philosophy and anthropology at the universities of Paris and Cambridge, where he did his graduate work with Professor Jack Goody, on memory constraints on the transmission of oral literature. He has done anthro- pological fieldwork in Cameroon on the transmission of the Fang oral epics and on Fang traditional religion. Since then, he has worked mostly on the experi- mental study of cognitive capacities underlying cultural transmission. After teaching in Cambridge, San Diego, Lyon, and Santa Barbara, Boyer moved to his present position at the departments of anthropology and psychology at Washington University, St. Louis. James V.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of the Transactive Memory System Construct and Corresponding Empirical Research from a Multi-Level Perspective
    An analysis of the Transactive Memory System construct and corresponding empirical research from a multi-level perspective Dissertation (Monographie) Eingereicht bei der Fakultät für Betriebswirtschaft der Universität Hamburg zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften (Dr. rer. pol.) vorgelegt von Volker Peter Wagner geboren in Wangen i. A. Hamburg, 2016 i Prüfungskommission: Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. Markus Nöth Erstgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Dorothea Alewell Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Rick Vogel Datum der Disputation: 06.10.2016 ii Content List of illustrations ..................................................................................................................... v List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................. vi 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research problem and objective ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 The structure of this work ................................................................................................ 9 2 Developing a framework for the analysis of Transactive Memory System theory and research ..................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Embedding TMS research into the field of Team Cognition ........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Collective Memory As a Dynamic Capability
    258 RAE-Revista de Administração de Empresas | FGV EAESP FORUM Invited article DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-759020170306 MNEMONIC CAPABILITIES: COLLECTIVE MEMORY AS A DYNAMIC CAPABILITY Capacidades mnemônicas: Memória coletiva como capacidade dinâmica Capacidades mnemónicas: Memoria colectiva como capacidad dinâmica ABSTRACT Dynamic capabilities (DCs) are the processes that organizations develop to remain competitive over time. However, in spite of the importance of temporality in the development of DCs, the roles of time, history, and memory remain largely implicit. In fact, most studies focus on the past as a source of cons- traints and limits for managerial action. Alternatively, we advocate for a social constructionist view of the past. Our core argument is that the capacity to manage the past is a critical competence of modern organizations. We argue that organizations can manage their collective memory as resources that aid the objective reproduction and exploitation of existing routines, the interpretive reconstruction and recombination of past capabilities for adaptation to environmental change, and the imaginative exten- sion and exploration of collective memory for anticipated scenarios and outcomes. This renewed view of time, history, and memory is better suited for a dynamic theory of competitive advantage. KEYWORDS | Dynamic capabilities, mnemonic capabilities, collective memory, competitive advan- tage, core competences. RESUMO Capacidades dinâmicas (CDs) são os processos que as organizações desenvolvem para se manter competitivas ao longo do tempo. Entretanto, apesar da importância da temporalidade no desenvol- vimento das CDs, os papéis do tempo, da história e da memória permanecem, em grande medida, implícitos. Na verdade, a maioria dos estudos concentram-se no passado como fonte de restrições e limites à ação gerencial.
    [Show full text]
  • Remembering and Forgetting: Narrative As Cultural Memory
    02 Brockmeier (MJ/d) 1/2/02 9:39 am Page 15 Abstract This paper has two objectives: one is to explore the dialectics of remembering and forgetting, an issue traditionally neglected in psychological memory research; the other is to question the widespread dichotomy of individual and social memory. To do so, a cultural-historical perspective is outlined that allows us to conceive of individual memory as an inextricable part of an overarching cultural discourse, the discourse of cultural memory. In this discourse, narrative practices are of central importance because they combine various cultural symbol systems, integrating them within one symbolic space. In order to explain and illustrate this conception of narrative, a historical memorial and work of art is examined. Three narrative orders of this artwork are distinguished—the linguistic, semiotic and performative or discursive—and discussed as particular forms of meaning construction. Together, they constitute a mnemonic system, a symbolic space of remembering and forgetting in which the time orders of past and present are continuously recombined. Key Words cultural memory, narrative, remembering, symbol system Jens Brockmeier University of Toronto, Canada, and Free University Berlin, Germany Remembering and Forgetting: Narrative as Cultural Memory Reading the psychological literature on memory, there is little doubt who plays the leading roles on this stage. The radiant hero in the lime- light is Remembering, attracting all attention, support and sympathy. The shady villain is Forgetting, the trouble maker who is lurking behind the scenes, always ready to counter-act Remembering and thwart its achievement. There are various scenarios in which this plot is acted out.
    [Show full text]
  • The Collective Memory of These Objects Are Explained in Large Measure by the Bonds by Maurice Halbwachs Attaching Us to Various Groups
    From reflects not merely what distinguishes us from everyone else. Our tastes and desires evidenced in the choice and arrangement The Collective Memory of these objects are explained in large measure by the bonds by Maurice Halbwachs attaching us to various groups. All we can say is that things are ©1950 part of society. However, furniture, ornaments, pictures, utensils, and knick-knacks also “circulate” within the group: they are the Chapter 4 topic of evaluations and comparisons, provide insights into new directions of fashion and taste, and recall for us older customs SPACE AND THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY and social distinctions. In an antique shop the various eras and classes of a society come face to face in the scattered assortment of household belongings. One naturally wonders who would The Group in Its Spatial Framework: have owned such an armchair, tapestry, dishes, or other The Influence of the Physical Surroundings necessities. Simultaneously (it is basically the same thing), one thinks about the world recognizable in all this, as if the style of Auguste Comte remarked that mental equilibrium was, first and furniture, the manner of decor and arrangement, were some foremost, due to the fact that the physical objects of our daily language to be interpreted. The picture a Balzac provides of a contact change little or not at all, providing us with an image of family lodging or the home of a miser, a Dickens gives of the permanence and stability. They give us a feeling of order and study of a notary public, already suggests the social type or tranquility, like a silent and immobile society unconcerned with category of the humans who live in that framework.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Cognitive Psychological Memory Research
    See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333701129 History of Cognitive Psychological Memory Research Chapter · June 2019 DOI: 10.1017/9781108290876 CITATIONS READS 0 3,810 2 authors: Henry Roediger Jeremy K. Yamashiro Washington University in St. Louis University of California, Santa Cruz 331 PUBLICATIONS 33,867 CITATIONS 14 PUBLICATIONS 115 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Question Order Effects on Quizzes View project Socially Distributed Remembering View project All content following this page was uploaded by Jeremy K. Yamashiro on 17 June 2019. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. HISTORY OF MEMORY RESEARCH 1 History of Psychological Approaches to Studying Memory Henry L. Roediger, III and Jeremy K. Yamashiro Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences Washington University in St. Louis Correspondence to: Henry L. Roediger, III Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Campus Box 1125 Washington University in St. Louis One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 U.S.A. e-mail: [email protected] HISTORY OF MEMORY RESEARCH 2 Introduction Writings about memory date to the earliest written word, and doubtless people wondered about their memories for centuries before they were able to write down their observations. Aristotle and Plato wrote about memory in ways that seem surprisingly modern even today, although of course in the wisdom of hindsight many of their claims are off the mark. For example, Aristotle thought that the heart was the seat of learning, memory, and intelligence and that the brain existed to cool the heart.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Formation of Collective Memories: the Role of a Dominant Narrator
    JournalMemory & Cognition 2006, ??34 (?),(4), ???-???752-762 On the formation of collective memories: The role of a dominant narrator ALEXANDRU CUC Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida YASUHIRO OZURU University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee DAVID MANIER City University of New York, New York, New York and WILLIAM HIRST New School University, New York, New York To test our hypothesis that conversations can contribute to the formation of collective memory, we asked participants to study stories and to recall them individually ( pregroup recollection), then as a group ( group recounting), and then once again individually ( postgroup recollection). One way that postgroup collective memories can be formed under these circumstances is if unshared pregroup rec- ollections in the group recounting influences others’ postgroup recollections. In the present research, we explored (using tests of recall and recognition) whether the presence of a dominant narrator can facilitate the emergence of unshared pregroup recollections in a group recounting and whether this emergence is associated with changes in postgroup recollections. We argue that the formation of a collective memory through conversation is not inevitable but is limited by cognitive factors, such as conditions for social contagion, and by situational factors, such as the presence of a narrator. Members of a group often come to remember their Weldon, 2001; Wertsch, 2002). One line of such research past similarly. Since Halbwachs (1980) first described the has followed Sherif’s (1966) work on social norms and phenomenon, it has garnered a great deal of attention, in Sperber’s (1996) discussion of the epidemiology of beliefs large part because it bears critically on issues of national and has treated collective memories as shared individual identity and ethnic conflict, as well as group cohesion memories (see also Hirst & Manier, 1996; Olick, 1999).
    [Show full text]
  • The Cult of Memory: When History Does More Harm Than Good It Is a Truism That We Must Remember the Past Or Else Be Condemned to Repeat It
    History The long read The cult of memory: when history does more harm than good It is a truism that we must remember the past or else be condemned to repeat it. But there are times when some things are best forgotten David Rieff The Guardian, Wednesday 2 March 2016 01.00 ESTLast modified on Wednesday 2 March 201605.05 EST As a reporter in the Bosnian war, in 1993 I went to Belgrade to visit Vuk Drašković, the Serb nationalist politician and writer who was then leading the mass opposition against the Slobodan Milošević regime. Drašković had drawn liberal as well as ultra-nationalist support in Serbia for his cause. As I was leaving his office, one of Drašković’s young aides pressed a folded bit of paper into my hand. It turned out to be blank except for a date: 1453 – the year Orthodox Constantinople fell to the Muslim Ottomans. Friends of mine who had worked in the former Yugoslavia during the Croatian and Bosnian wars had similar experiences in Zagreb and Sarajevo, though the dates in question were different. It seemed as if the “sores of history”, as the Irish writer Hubert Butler once called them, remained unhealed more than half a millennium later – at least in the desperate, degraded atmosphere of that time and place. And yet, while alert to the possibility that history can be abused, as it unquestionably was in the Balkans in the 1990s, most decent people still endorse George Santayana’s celebrated dictum: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The consequence of this is that remembrance as a species of morality has become one of the more unassailable pieties of the age.
    [Show full text]